A Californian police chief sent an armed sergeant to a newspaper reporter's home in the early hours of the morning to demand that he make changes to a story.

The chief of Berkeley police department, Michael Meehan, ordered the mission after reading an online story filed by Doug Oakley of the Bay Area News Group.

A day later, after as storm of criticism for an act perceived as intimidation and attempted censorship, Meehan issued an apology, calling it "an overzealous attempt to make sure that accurate information is put out."

He said he didn't think Oakley would be upset because the police sergeant, Mary Kusmiss, regularly deals with the media. But Oakley said he and his wife were shaken by the 12.45am knock on the door.

Meehan objected to a report by Oakley about a raucous community meeting in which Meehan had sought to explain his department's alleged failure to respond to an emergency call by a man who was subsequently murdered.

Oakley did eventually change two paragraphs in his story, but Meehan's actions were described as "totally despicable" by Jim Ewert, a lawyer for the California Newspaper Publisher's Association.

He said the chief should have just called the newspaper the next day or written a letter to the editor.